[Air-l] languages on the Internet

[William Bain]

Jeremy Hunsinger wrote: "Isn't the cosmopolitan goal to have a plurally linguistic internet  for all, with global access and its related cultural production as appropriate to the people/s participating?  Granted of course... the internet is still mostly owned by corporations... which are owned by people...." 
  This and a number of other contributions in the last air-l letter made me think of an article by Albert Bastardas i Boada. The article is titled "Towards a 'linguistic sustainability': concepts, principles and problems of human communicative organisation for the twenty-first century." It can easily be found online (I just typed <bastardas linguistic sustainability> into a search engine). 
  He talks about the hegemony of languages and about possibilities of looking for answers in bilingualism and of using different languages for different functions. I think this quote gives a good idea of the way he develops his discussion:
  "We should thus begin by establishing the meaning of the term. ‘Sustainability’ clearly comes from the tradition of thinking that criticises a vision of economic development that overlooks almost totally the natural environment where precisely this development takes place, and which thus leads it to a final end devoid of resources and clearly prejudicial for the environment of human beings. To an end, that is to say, which is clearly unsustainable. To this vision, certain academic and activist enclaves have opposed the perspective of ‘sustainable development’ or ‘lasting development’. In other words, they have theorised, constructed, and begun to practice an economic and urbanistic development respectful of, integrated into, and in keeping with the dynamic of nature. Such action provides a way of improving some of the material aspects of human life which do not damage other environmental aspects still more necessary and fundamental for the quality—and even for the simple
 possibility—of human life. In fact, this is a synthesis of possible opposed patterns. It does not renounce material and economic improvement, but nor does it exclude a fully healthy environment that is appropriate for the continuation of the species."
   
  Best regards,
   
  William Bain

		
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